arXiv subjects

Roderich Moessner

Publications and source records attributed to Roderich Moessner.

At least 109 records · Page 6Linked to original sources

arXiv2023

Subdiffusive spin transport in disordered classical Heisenberg chains

We study the transport and equilibration properties of a classical Heisenberg chain, whose couplings are random variables drawn from a one-parameter family of power-law distributions. The absence of a scale in the couplings makes the system deviate substantially from the usual paradigm of diffusive spin hydrodynamics, and exhibit a regime of subdiffusive transport with an exponent changing continuously with the parameter of the distribution. We propose a solvable phenomenological model that correctly yields the subdiffusive exponent, thereby linking local fluctuations in the coupling strengths to the long-time, large-distance behaviour. It also yields the finite-time corrections to the asymptotic scaling, which can be important in fitting the numerical data. We show how such exponents undergo transitions as the distribution of the coupling gets wider, marking the passage from diffusion to a regime of slow diffusion, and finally to subdiffusion.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2023

Mobility edges through inverted quantum many-body scarring

We show that the rainbow state, which has volume law entanglement entropy for most choices of bipartitions, can be embedded in a many-body localized spectrum. For a broad range of disorder strengths in the resulting model, we numerically find a narrow window of highly entangled states in the spectrum, embedded in a sea of area law entangled states. The construction hence embeds mobility edges in many-body localized systems. This can be thought of as the complement to many-body scars, an `inverted quantum many-body scar', providing a further type of setting where the eigenstate thermalization hypothesis is violated.

cond-mat.dis-nn↗

arXiv2023

Abundance of hard-hexagon crystals in the quantum pyrochlore antiferromagnet

We propose a simple family of valence-bond crystals as potential ground states of the $S=1/2$ and $S=1$ Heisenberg antiferromagnet on the pyrochlore lattice. Exponentially numerous in the linear size of the system, these can be visualized as hard-hexagon coverings, with each hexagon representing a resonating valence-bond ring. This ensemble spontaneously breaks rotation, inversion and translation symmetries. A simple, yet accurate, variational wavefunction allows a precise determination of the energy, confirmed by DMRG and numerical linked cluster expansion, and extended by an analysis of excited states. The identification of the origin of the stability indicates applicability to a broad class of frustrated lattices, which we demonstrate for the checkerboard and ruby lattices. Our work suggests a perspective on such quantum magnets, in which unfrustrated motifs are effectively uncoupled by the frustration of their interactions.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2023

Making Trotterization adaptive and energy-self-correcting for NISQ devices and beyond

Simulation of continuous time evolution requires time discretization on both classical and quantum computers. A finer time step improves simulation precision, but it inevitably leads to increased computational efforts. This is particularly costly for today's noisy intermediate scale quantum computers, where notable gate imperfections limit the circuit depth that can be executed at a given accuracy. Classical adaptive solvers are well-developed to save numerical computation times. However, it remains an outstanding challenge to make optimal usage of the available quantum resources by means of adaptive time steps. Here, we introduce a quantum algorithm to solve this problem, providing a controlled solution of the quantum many-body dynamics of local observables. The key conceptual element of our algorithm is a feedback loop which self-corrects the simulation errors by adapting time steps, thereby significantly outperforming conventional Trotter schemes on a fundamental level and reducing the circuit depth. It even allows for a controlled asymptotic long-time error, where usual Trotterized dynamics is facing difficulties. Another key advantage of our quantum algorithm is that any desired conservation law can be included in the self-correcting feedback loop, which has potentially a wide range of applicability. We demonstrate the capabilities by enforcing gauge invariance which is crucial for a faithful and long-sought quantum simulation of lattice gauge theories. Our algorithm can be potentially useful on a more general level whenever time discretization is involved concerning, for instance, also numerical approaches based on time-evolving block decimation methods.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2023

Magnetic fragmentation and fractionalized Goldstone modes in a bilayer quantum spin liquid

We study the phase diagram of a bilayer quantum spin liquid model with Kitaev-type interactions on a square lattice. We show that the low energy limit is described by a $π$-flux Hubbard model with an enhanced SO(4) symmetry. The antiferromagnetic Mott transition of the Hubbard model signals a magnetic fragmentation transition for the spin and orbital degrees of freedom of the bilayer. The fragmented "Néel order" features a non-local string order parameter for an in-plane Néel component, in addition to an anisotropic local order parameter. The associated quantum order is characterized by an emergent $\mathbb{Z}_{2} \times \mathbb{Z}_{2}$ gauge field when the Néel vector is along the $\hat{z}$ direction, and a $\mathbb{Z}_2$ gauge field otherwise. We underpin these results with a perturbative calculation, which is consistent with the field theory analysis. We conclude with a discussion on the low energy collective excitations of these phases and show that the Goldstone boson of the $\mathbb{Z}_{2} \times \mathbb{Z}_{2}$ phase is fractionalized and non-local.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2023

Prethermalization in aperiodically kicked many-body dynamics

Driven many-body systems typically experience heating due to the lack of energy conservation. Heating may be suppressed for time-periodic drives, but little is known for less regular drive protocols. In this work, we investigate the heating dynamics in aperiodically kicked systems, specifically those driven by quasi-periodic Thue-Morse or a family of random sequences with $n$-multipolar temporal correlations. We demonstrate that multiple heating channels can be eliminated even away from the high-frequency regime. The number of eliminated channels increases with multipolar order $n$. We illustrate this in a classical kicked rotor chain where we find a long-lived prethermal regime. When the static Hamiltonian only involves the kinetic energy, the prethermal lifetime $t^*$ can strongly depend on the temporal correlations of the drive, with a power-law dependence on the kick strength $t^*\sim K^{-2n}$, for which we can account using a simple linearization argument.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2023

Temporal disorder in spatiotemporal order

Time-dependent driving holds the promise of realizing dynamical phenomenon absent in static systems. Here, we introduce a correlated random driving protocol to realize a spatiotemporal order that cannot be achieved even by periodic driving, thereby extending the discussion of time translation symmetry breaking to randomly driven systems. We find a combination of temporally disordered micro-motion with prethermal stroboscopic spatiotemporal long-range order. This spatiotemporal order remains robust against generic perturbations, with an algebraically long prethermal lifetime where the scaling exponent strongly depends on the symmetry of the perturbation, which we account for analytically.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2023

Ising Fracton Spin Liquid on the Honeycomb Lattice

We study a classical Ising model on the honeycomb lattice with local two-body interactions and present strong evidence that at low temperature it realizes a higher-rank Coulomb liquid with fracton excitations. We show that the excitations are (type-I) fractons, appearing at the corners of membranes of spin flips. Because of the three-fold rotational symmetry of the honeycomb lattice, these membranes can be locally combined such that no excitations are created, giving rise to a set of ground states described as a liquid of membranes. We devise a cluster Monte-Carlo algorithm purposefully designed for this problem that moves pairs of defects, and use it to study the finite-temperature behavior of the model. We show evidence for a first order transition from a high-temperature paramagnet to a low-temperature phase whose correlations precisely match those predicted for a higher-rank Coulomb phase.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2023

Classification of Classical Spin Liquids: Typology and Resulting Landscape

Classical spin liquids (CSL) lack long-range magnetic order and are characterized by an extensive ground state degeneracy. We propose a classification scheme of CSLs based on the structure of the flat bands of their Hamiltonians. Depending on absence or presence of the gap from the flat band, the CSL are classified as algebraic or fragile topological, respectively. Each category is further classified: the algebraic case by the nature of the emergent Gauss's law at the gap-closing point(s), and the fragile topological case by the homotopy of the eigenvector winding around the Brillouin zone. Previously identified instances of CSLs fit snugly into our scheme, which finds a landscape where algebraic CSLs are located at transitions between \fragile topological ones. It also allows us to present a new, simple family of models illustrating that landscape, which hosts both fragile topological and algebraic CSLs, as well as transitions between them.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2023

Arresting dynamics in hardcore spin models

We study the dynamics of hardcore spin models on the square and triangular lattice, constructed by analogy to hard spheres, where the translational degrees of freedom of the spheres are replaced by orientational degrees of freedom of spins on a lattice and the packing fraction as a control parameter is replaced by an exclusion angle. In equilibrium, models on both lattices exhibit a Kosterlitz-Thouless transition at an exclusion angle $Δ_{\rm KT}$. We devise compression protocols for hardcore spins and find that {\it any} protocol that changes the exclusion angle nonadiabatically, if endowed with only local dynamics, fails to compress random initial states beyond an angle $Δ_{\rm J}> Δ_{\rm KT}$. This coincides with a doubly algebraic divergence of the relaxation time of compressed states towards equilibrium. We identify a remarkably simple mechanism underpinning this divergent timescale: topological defects involved in the phase ordering kinetics of the system become incompatible with the hardcore spin constraint, leading to a vanishing defect mobility as $Δ\rightarrowΔ_{\rm J}$.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2023

Classification of Classical Spin Liquids: Detailed Formalism and Suite of Examples

The hallmark of highly frustrated systems is the presence of many states close in energy to the ground state. Fluctuations between these states can preclude the emergence of any form of order and lead to the appearance of spin liquids. Even on the classical level, spin liquids are not all alike: they may have algebraic or exponential correlation decay, and various forms of long wavelength description, including vector or tensor gauge theories. Here, we introduce a classification scheme, allowing us to fit the diversity of classical spin liquids (CSLs) into a general framework as well as predict and construct new kinds. CSLs with either algebraic or exponential correlation-decay can be classified via the properties of the bottom flat band(s) in their soft-spin Hamiltonians. The classification of the former is based on the algebraic structures of gapless points in the spectra, which relate directly to the emergent generalized Gauss's laws that control the low temperature physics. The second category of CSLs, meanwhile, are classified by the fragile topology of the gapped bottom band(s). Utilizing the classification scheme we construct new models realizing exotic CSLs, including one with anisotropic generalized Gauss's laws and charges with subdimensional mobility, one with a network of pinch-line singularities in its correlation functions, and a series of fragile topological CSLs connected by zero-temperature transitions.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2023

From Dual Unitarity to Generic Quantum Operator Spreading

Dual-unitary circuits are paradigmatic examples of exactly solvable yet chaotic quantum many-body systems, but solvability naturally goes along with a degree of non-generic behaviour. By investigating the effect of weakly broken dual-unitarity on the spreading of local operators we study whether, and how, small deviations from dual-unitarity recover fully generic many-body dynamics. We present a discrete path-integral formula for the out-of-time-order correlator and use it to recover a butterfly velocity smaller than the light-cone velocity, $v_B < v_{LC}$ , and a diffusively broadening operator front, two generic features of ergodic quantum spin chains absent in dual-unitary circuit dynamics. We find that the butterfly velocity and diffusion constant are determined by a small set of microscopic quantities and that the operator entanglement of the gates plays a crucial role.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2023

Riemann meets Goldstone: magnon scattering off quantum Hall skyrmion crystals probes interplay of symmetry breaking and topology

We introduce a model to study magnon scattering in skyrmion crystals, sandwiched between ferromagnets which act as the source of magnons. Skyrmions are topological objects while skyrmion crystals break internal and translational symmetries, thus our setup allows us to study the interplay of topology and symmetry breaking. Starting from a basis of holomorphic theta functions, we construct an analytical ansatz for such a junction with finite spatially modulating topological charge density in the central region and vanishing in the leads. We then construct a suitably defined energy functional for the junction and derive the resulting equations of motion, which resemble a Bogoliubov-de Gennes-like equation. Using analytical techniques, field theory, heuristic models and microscopic recursive transfer-matrix numerics, we calculate the spectra and magnon transmission properties of the skyrmion crystal. We find that magnon transmission can be understood via a combination of low-energy Goldstone modes and effective emergent Landau levels at higher energies. The former manifests in discrete low-energy peaks in the transmission spectrum which reflect the nature of the Goldstone modes arising from symmetry breaking. The latter, which reflect the topology, lead to band-like transmission features, from the structure of which further details of the excitation spectrum of the skyrmion crystal can be inferred. Such characteristic transmission features are absent in competing phases of the quantum Hall phase diagram, and hence provide direct signatures of skyrmion crystal phases and their spectra. Our results directly apply to quantum Hall heterojunction experiments in monolayer graphene with the central region doped slightly away from unit filling, a $ν= 1:1 \pm δν: 1$ junction and are also relevant to junctions formed by metallic magnets or in junctions with artificial gauge fields.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2023

Non-local electrodynamics in ultra-pure PdCoO$_{2}$

The motion of electrons in the vast majority of conductors is diffusive, obeying Ohm's law. However, the recent discovery and growth of high-purity materials with extremely long electronic mean free paths has sparked interest in non-ohmic alternatives, including viscous and ballistic flow. Although non-ohmic transport regimes have been discovered across a range of materials, including two-dimensional electron gases, graphene, topological semimetals, and the delafossite metals, determining their nature has proved to be challenging. Here, we report on a new approach to the problem, employing broadband microwave spectroscopy of the delafossite metal PdCoO$_{2}$ in three distinct sample geometries that would be identical for diffusive transport. The observed differences, which go as far as differing power laws, take advantage of the hexagonal symmetry of PdCoO$_{2}$. This permits a particularly elegant symmetry-based diagnostic for non-local electrodynamics, with the result favouring ballistic over strictly hydrodynamic flow. Furthermore, it uncovers a new effect for ballistic electron flow, owing to the highly facetted shape of the hexagonal Fermi surface. We combine our extensive dataset with an analysis of the Boltzmann equation to characterize the non-local regime in PdCoO$_{2}$. More broadly, our results highlight the potential of broadband microwave spectroscopy to play a central role in investigating exotic transport regimes in the new generation of ultra-high conductivity materials.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2023

Hybrid Dyons, inverted Lorentz force and magnetic Nernst effect in quantum spin ice

Topological magnets host two sets of gauge fields: that of native Maxwell electromagnetism, thanks to the magnetic dipole moment of its constituent microscopic moments; and that of the emergent gauge theory describing the topological phase. Here, we show that in quantum spin ice, the emergent magnetic charges of the latter carry native electric charge of the former. We both provide a general symmetry-based analysis underpinning this result, and discuss a microscopic mechanism which binds a native electric charge to the emergent magnetic one. This has important ramifications. First and foremost, an applied electric field gives rise to an emergent magnetic field. This in turn exerts an `inverted' Lorentz force on moving emergent electric/native magnetic charges. This can be probed via what we term a magnetic Nernst effect: applying an electric field perpendicular to a temperature gradient yields a magnetisation perpendicular to both. Finally, and importantly as a further potential experimental signature, a thermal gas of emergent magnetic charges will make an activated contribution to the optical conductivity at low temperatures.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2023

Intermediate-scale theory for electrons coupled to frustrated local-moments

A classic route for destroying long-lived electronic quasiparticles in a weakly interacting Fermi liquid is to couple them to other low-energy degrees of freedom that effectively act as a bath. We consider here the problem of electrons scattering off the spin fluctuations of a geometrically frustrated antiferromagnet, whose non-linear Landau-Lifshitz dynamics, which remains non-trivial at all temperatures, we model in detail. At intermediate temperatures and in the absence of any magnetic ordering, the fluctuating local-moments lead to a non-trivial angular anisotropy of the scattering-rate along the Fermi surface, which disappears with increasing temperature, elucidating the role of "hot-spots". Over a remarkably broad window of intermediate and high temperatures, the electronic properties can be described by employing a local approximation for the dynamical spin-response. This we contrast with the more familiar setup of electrons scattering off classical phonons, whose high-temperature limit differs fundamentally on account of their unbounded Hilbert space. We place our results in the context of layered magnetic delafossite compounds.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2023

Time-reversal invariant finite-size topology

We report finite-size topology in the quintessential time-reversal (TR) invariant systems, the quantum spin Hall insulator (QSHI) and the three-dimensional, strong topological insulator (STI): previously-identified helical or Dirac cone boundary states of these phases hybridize in wire or slab geometries with one open boundary condition for finite system size, and additional, topologically-protected, lower-dimensional boundary modes appear for open boundary conditions in two or more directions. For the quasi-one-dimensional (q(2-1)D) QSHI, we find topologically-protected, quasi-zero-dimensional (q(2-2)D) boundary states within the hybridization gap of the helical edge states, determined from q(2-1)D bulk topology characterized by topologically non-trivial Wilson loop spectra. We show this finite-size topology furthermore occurs in 1T'-WTe2 in ribbon geometries with sawtooth edges, based on analysis of a tight-binding model derived from density-functional theory calculations, motivating experimental investigation of our results. In addition, we find quasi-two-dimensional (q(3-1)D) finite-size topological phases occur for the STI, yielding helical boundary modes distinguished from those of the QSHI by a non-trivial magneto-electric polarizability linked to the original 3D bulk STI. Finite-size topological phases therefore exhibit signatures associated with the non-trivial topological invariant of a higher-dimensional bulk. Finally, we find the q(3-2)D STI also exhibits finite-size topological phases, finding the first signs of topologically-protected boundary modes of codimension greater than 1 due to finite-size topology. Finite-size topology of four or higher-dimensional systems is therefore possible in experimental settings without recourse to thermodynamically large synthetic dimensions.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2022

Density-and-phase domain walls in a condensate with dynamical gauge potentials

We show how one can generate domain walls that separate high- and low-density regions with opposite momenta in the ground state of a harmonically trapped Bose-Einstein condensate using a density-dependent gauge potential. Within a Gross-Pitaevskii framework, we elucidate the distinct roles of vector and scalar potentials and how they lead to synthetic electromagnetic fields that are localized at the domain wall. In particular, the kinetic energy cost of a steep density gradient is compensated by an electrostatic field that pushes particles away from a special value of density. We show numerically in one dimension that such a domain wall is more prominent for repulsive contact interactions, and becomes metastable at strong electric fields through a first-order phase transition that ends at a critical point as the field is reduced. Our findings build on recent experimental developments and may be realized with cold atoms in a shaken optical lattice, providing insights into collective phenomena arising from dynamical gauge fields.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗